Cars Americans Don’t Want to Buy

While sales across the auto industry as a whole fell in 2017, no company had more slow-selling cars than Buick. The General Motors subsidiary produced five of the 15 slowest selling cars, including the Verano, which took an average of 223.6 days to sell. The only other manufacturer with multiple cars on the list is Cadillac with three.

The vehicles Americans don’t want to buy overwhelmingly consist of sedans and coupes — few trucks, SUVs, or crossovers made the list. The Buick Envision is the only crossover on the list, taking an average of 161.8 days to turn. Crossovers are one of the hottest segments in the automotive market, so the Envision’s sales struggles could stem from Buick’s inventory issues.

The Jeep Patriot is the only SUV on the list, and the Nissan Quest is the lone minivan. Both likely took long to sell because they were discontinued. Five other vehicles on this list were also discontinued, likely causing their slow sales.

Car buyers tend to prefer vehicles with the latest designs and features, so sales of familiar models can get a boost after the model has been updated. Manufacturers will typically refresh existing models every five to 10 years. When a car is nearing the end of that cycle, sales will often slow. And when a car is discontinued, sales can plummet.

Most of the vehicles on this list should come as no surprise. Nine of the 15 cars with the slowest days to turn in 2017 were also among the slowest-selling cars in recent years. The Nissan Quest, Cadillac ATS, Cadillac XTS, Buick Verano, Chrysler 200, and Dodge Dart were all among the cars with the longest days to turn in 2016. The Buick Lacrosse, Cadillac CTS, and Toyota Yaris also were among the slowest-selling cars in years past. The Cadillac ATS has made the list every year since 2015, the only car to do so.

To determine the cars Americans don’t want to buy, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed days to turn figures in 2017 provided by Kelley Blue Book. Days to turn refers to the average number of days a model sat on the dealer’s lot before being sold. Cars that sold under 1,000 units were not considered. Each car’s starting price is from the manufacturer’s website. Vehicles with “N/A” listed as their starting price no longer have a starting price listed on their manufacturer’s website.